Why does this Arduino while loop never end? - while-loop

This may be the worst way of doing this but I want the Arduino to pick between 1 and -1. This code is not working, what is wrong.
This is my understanding of the code:
The int is defined as 0.
The while loop starts because the condition is true.
A random variable is chosen.
If the int is 1 or -1 then the while loop ends and the value is
printed.
If the int is 0 the while loop restarts.
int random_number = 0;
void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);
while (random_number == 0){
int random_number = random(-1,2);
Serial.println(random_number);
delay(1000);
}
Serial.print("value ");
Serial.println(random_number);
}
void loop() {
}

The problem is that you are declaring random_number inside the while loop again. This is a new and different variable in the local scope of the loop, not the one declared globaly at the begining of your code. Also, it is being declared again on every loop.
int random_number = 0;
void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);
while (random_number == 0){
random_number = random(-1,2); // not declared again
Serial.println(random_number);
delay(1000);
}
Serial.print("value ");
Serial.println(random_number);
}
void loop() {
}
Note that int random_number is replaced by random_number inside the loop. Now the globally declared variable random_number is being used instead of declaring a new local variable with the same name.

To provide a little clarity to eventHandler's (correct) response, since there appears to still be confusion for someone reading it:
The problem lies in the line
int random_number = random(-1,2);
because by including a type specifier (the int declarator), a new variable called random_number is being declared within the scope of the while loop. This variable, as pointed out before, is not the same as the one declared globally in the line
int random_number = 0;
thus it is not the one being used in the while loop condition.
Generally, multiple declaration is flagged by the compiler as being an issue, but since the variables in the question have different scopes, what is actually being done is called shadowing. Here, the random_number of the loop is hiding (or shadowing) the one declared in the global scope and so it is being assigned a random number instead of the intended variable. When variables with different scopes are being resolved, the "most local" one is given preference over the "least local" one.
The definition of random_number in the while loop should thus read:
random_number = random(-1,2);
in which case the global variable is being assigned a new value (instead of a new variable being assigned one), only one variable of that name exists in the code snippet, and the issue is resolved.

Related

C++/CLI pin_ptr's usage in proper way

I am newbie of C++/CLI.
I already know that the pin_ptr's functionality is making GC not to learn to specified object.
now let me show you msdn's example.
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us//library/1dz8byfh.aspx
// pin_ptr_1.cpp
// compile with: /clr
using namespace System;
#define SIZE 10
#pragma unmanaged
// native function that initializes an array
void native_function(int* p) {
for(int i = 0 ; i < 10 ; i++)
p[i] = i;
}
#pragma managed
public ref class A {
private:
array<int>^ arr; // CLR integer array
public:
A() {
arr = gcnew array<int>(SIZE);
}
void load() {
pin_ptr<int> p = &arr[0]; // pin pointer to first element in arr
int* np = p; // pointer to the first element in arr
native_function(np); // pass pointer to native function
}
int sum() {
int total = 0;
for (int i = 0 ; i < SIZE ; i++)
total += arr[i];
return total;
}
};
int main() {
A^ a = gcnew A;
a->load(); // initialize managed array using the native function
Console::WriteLine(a->sum());
}
hear is the question.
Isn't it okay, the passed object(arr) not pinned ?
because the unmanaged code(native_function) is sync operation and finished before the C++/CLI code (load)
is there any chance the gc destory arr, even though the main logic is running?
(I think A is main's stack variable and arr is A's member variable, so while running main, it should visible)
if so, how can we guarantee that the A is there before invoking load?
(only while not running in native-code?)
int main() {
A^ a = gcnew A;
// I Think A or arr can be destroyed in here, if it is able to be destroyed in native_function.
a->load();
...
}
Thanks, in advance.
The problem that is solved by pinning a pointer is not a normal concurrency issue. It might be true that no other thread will preempt the execution of your native function. However, you have to count in the garbage collector, which might kick in whenever the .NET runtime sees fit. For instance, the system might run low on memory, so the runtime decides to collect disposed objects. This might happen while your native function executes, and the garbage collector might relocate the array it is using, so the pointer you passed in isn't valid anymore.
The golden rule of thumb is to pin ALL array pointers and ALL string pointers before passing them to a native function. ALWAYS. Don't think about it, just do it as a rule. Your code might work fine for a long time without pinning, but one day bad luck will strike you just when it's most annoying.

Use of THIS-> in C/C++ [closed]

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I'm going through a tutorial on audio for the iphone and it uses C/C++. I'm not familiar with the use of THIS->. It seems to refer to a pointer to global variable. Here is the tutorial - iPhone Core Audio Part 3 – Audio Callback.
The statement I am trying to understand is the THIS-> part of the statement:
// Pass in a reference to the phase value, you have to keep track of this
// so that the sin resumes right where the last call left off
float phase = THIS->sinPhase;
The tutorial indicate that THIS-> is used to get a to access AudioController variables. It seems that sinPhase is global variable.
Please explain why "phase" reference is created instead of just referring directly to the global variable "sinPhase". Keep in mind I am an objective C programming trying to understand this C/C++ code.
In this example, THIS is not a reference to a global variable; it is defined above in the function, as a cast of the void pointer inRefCon:
static OSStatus renderInput(void *inRefCon, AudioUnitRenderActionFlags *ioActionFlags, const AudioTimeStamp *inTimeStamp, UInt32 inBusNumber, UInt32 inNumberFrames, AudioBufferList *ioData)
{
// Get a reference to the object that was passed with the callback
// In this case, the AudioController passed itself so
// that you can access its data.
AudioController *THIS = (AudioController*)inRefCon;
This is a fairly common pattern in C; in order to pass a callback in to some API, so that it can later call your code, you pass both a function pointer and a void pointer. The void pointer contains whatever data your function pointer will need to operate on. Within your callback, you will need to cast it back to a pointer to the actual type, so you can access the data within it. In this case, the author of the example is naming that cast pointer THIS, probably to make this look more object-oriented, even though this is just C and THIS has no special meaning.
You ask why they assign it to a local variable rather than just using THIS->sinPhase everywhere. There's no reason you couldn't use THIS->sinPhase everywhere; they likely just assigned it to a local variable phase to save on typing. There's a small chance that the optimizer could do a better job on a local variable than on one passed in via a pointer, because it can make more assumptions about the local variable (in particular, it can assume that no one else is updating it at the same time). So the loop might run slightly faster using a local variable, though I wouldn't be certain without testing; the most likely reason is just to save typing and make the code more readable.
Here's a simplified example of how a callback API like this works; hopefully this should make it easier to understand how a callback API works, without trying to understand the rest of what's going on in Core Audio at the same time. Let's say I want to write a function that will apply a callback to an integer 10 times. I might write:
int do_ten_times(int input, int (*callback)(int)) {
int value = input;
for (int i = 0; i < 10; ++i) {
value = callback(value);
}
return value;
}
Now I could call this with different functions, like the following add_one() or times_two():
int add_one(int x) {
return x + 1;
}
int times_two(int x) {
return x * 2;
}
result = do_ten_times(1, add_one);
result = do_ten_times(1, times_two);
But say I want to be able to add or multiply by different numbers; I could try writing one function for each number that you wanted to add or multiply by, but then you would run into a problem if the number wasn't fixed in the code, but was based on input. You can't write one function for each possible number; you are going to need to pass a value in. So let's add a value to our callbacks, and have do_ten_times() pass that value in:
int do_ten_times(int input, int (*callback)(int, int), int data) {
int value = input;
for (int i = 0; i < 10; ++i) {
value = callback(value, data);
}
return value;
}
int add(int x, int increment) {
return x + increment;
}
int times(int x, int multiplier) {
return x * multiplier;
}
result = do_ten_times(1, add, 3);
result = do_ten_times(1, times, 4);
But what if someone wants to write a function that varies by something other than an integer? For instance, what if you want to write a function that will add different numbers depending on whether the input is negative or positive? Now we need to pass two values in. Again, we could extend our interface to pass in two values; but we will eventually need to pass in more values, values of different types, and the like. We notice that do_ten_times really doesn't care about the type of the value we're passing in; it just needs to pass it to the callback, and the callback can interpret it however it likes. We can achieve this with a void pointer; the callback then casts that void pointer to the appropriate type to get the value out:
int do_ten_times(int input, int (*callback)(int, void *), void *data) {
int value = input;
for (int i = 0; i < 10; ++i) {
value = callback(value, data);
}
return value;
}
int add(int x, void *data) {
int increment = *(int *)data;
return x + increment;
}
int times(int x, void *data) {
int multiplier = *(int *)data;
return x * multiplier;
}
struct pos_neg {
int pos;
int neg;
};
int add_pos_neg(int x, void *data) {
struct pos_neg *increments = (struct pos_neg *)data;
if (x >= 0)
return x + increments->pos;
else
return x + increments->neg;
}
int i = 3;
result = do_ten_times(1, add, &i);
int m = 4;
result = do_ten_times(1, times, &m);
struct pos_neg pn = { 2, -2 };
result = do_ten_times(-1, add_pos_neg, &pn);
These are all, of course, toy examples. In the Core Audio case, the callback is used to generate a buffer of audio data; it is called every time the audio system needs to generate more data in order to keep playing smoothly. The information passed via the void *inRefCon is used to track how exactly where in the sine wave you have gotten to in the current buffer, so the next buffer can pick up where the last one left off.
If it's not declared in scope (i.e. local variable declared in that context), I see two options:
either it's a define, and it actually refers to the instance: #define THIS this.
either a global variable, as you suggested.
THIS doesn't have any inherent meaning in C++, so it can be either. Whichever it is though, it's pretty awful.
The reason it's copied in a different variable, in case it's a global, and not used directly, can be either for clarity or to not accidentally modify it.

Objective-C Blocks, Recursion Fails

Sup guys,
I'm trying to do a function that calls itself but by putting everything on one block,
As you can see, the following function is intended to be called an indefinite amount of times (until arcrandom returns a number lower than 50) and you should expect as an output a variable number of "RUNNING" messages, depending on chance.
void (^_test_closure)(void) = ^ {
NSLog(#"RUNNING");
if(arc4random() % 100 > 50) {
_test_closure();
}
};
_test_closure();
However, when running it, I get an EXC_BAD_ACCESS error and the reason I've found is that when the code tries to calls _test_closure inside of the closure it basically points to nowhere.
Does anyone know how to make the above code work?
You have to declare your block itself as a block variable:
__block void (^_test_closure)();
_test_closure = ^{
NSLog(#"Running...");
if ((arc4random() % 100) > 50) {
_test_closure();
}
}
_test_closure();
Recursion and blocks is tricky. Because a block captures all variables passed in, the variable _test_closure is not initialized yet (and clang should give you a warning:
Block pointer variable '_test_closure' is uninitialized when captured by block
).
There are several ways you can get around this, but the most obvious & simplest is to just make the block itself a __block variable (what #H2CO3 said). This allows the block to be weak-linked almost, so that when you call it again, it is properly initialized.
Another option you have is making the block a global or static, like this:
// outside of 'main', thus being a global variable
void (^blockRecurse)(int) = ^(int level) {
if (level < 0)
return;
NSLog(#"Level: %i", level);
blockRecurse(--level);
};
int main()
{
#autoreleasepool {
blockRecurse(10);
}
}
This means it's not being captured by the block, but instead it's referencing the global / static variable, which can be changed by all code equally.
It works with XCode 5 - no warnings, no retain cycles:
typedef void(^blockT)();
blockT block1;
blockT __block block1recursive;
block1recursive = block1 = ^(){
block1recursive();
};
block1();

What does this syntax with brackets only mean?

I was surprised to see in a objective-c project, the following line codes
- (void)methodName
{
... some code...
{
... some code
}
{
... some code
}
}
What does the inner brackets stand for ? They seems not be preceded by any statement.
thanks
The brackets create a new scope. Variables defined within the scope will not persist after the end of the scope. I personally use this to separate out bits of logic to make things easier to read.
Example 1
This example demonstrates the lack of access to variables instantiated inside of a more narrowly defined scope.
-(void)blockTestA {
int j = 25;
{
int k = 5;
// You can access both variables 'j' and 'k' inside this block.
}
// You can only access the variable 'j' here.
}
Example 2
This example demonstrates how creating a new block scope allows us to have different variables with the same name. You can read more about scope here.
-(void)blockTestB {
int j = 25;
{
int j = 5;
NSLog(#"j inside block is: %i", j); // Prints '5'
}
NSLog(#"j outside of block is: %i", j); // Prints '25'
}
The inner brackets limit the scope of variables declared inside of them.
They create a block scope. Declared variables inside those blocks will not be available outside the blocks.
- (void)methodName
{
... some code...
{
int i;//the scope of i is within this block only
... some code
}
{
int i;//the scope of i is within this block only
... some code
}
}
I think it will be helpful to you.

variable initialization

If I am getting an error on a function that a variable opcode may not have been initialized, should this be done inside this method or in the beginning of the class.
private void compileDo() {
int endLabel, endLabelLoc, topLabel, opcode;
accept("do");
accept("(");
compileExpr();
accept(")");
topLabel = cs.getPos();
endLabelLoc = cs.emit(opcode, topLabel);
compileStatement();
}
Any help would be most appreciated.
something like this:
int opcode = 0;
opcode is a local variable and hence, you should initialize within the function.